South West Illinois News

The Monroe County Republican Party plans to continue to rev up turnout among the county’s conservative rural voting base in the coming year as the party seeks solutions to key policy problems facing the region.

“We have a very active voting base in our county,” GOP Chairman Ed McLean, told the Southwest Illinois News. “It’s not only very active but very red.”

The November election of President Donald Trump – who won in Monroe County by a more than 2-1 margin over Democrat Hillary Clinton – has excited the county’s more than 33,000 residents, and McLean expects that enthusiasm to continue into the next few years.

“One thing that the GOP has done is that we generated interest among voters to get out and vote” during the past two election cycles, he said.

The spring elections in Monroe County will be extremely localized and mostly apolitical, according to McLean, who emphasized the need to get good, competent people to run for the local offices. “It’s not a personality contest, but not necessarily a political one either,” he said.

Local Republican politicians will be concentrating on resolving three regional concerns in the years ahead, according to McLean. The GOP chairman said one key issue is that because Monroe is not particularly wealthy, local politicians will focus on providing government services to residents as efficiently as possible and stay within budget constraints.

In addition, politicians will be working closely with Sheriff Neal Rohlfing to fight drug abuse in the county, as well as truancy, McLean said. Another key policy consideration is to achieve the right mix of residential and commercial growth to provide a positive quality of life for all of Monroe County’s residents, he said.

Trump’s platform of change helped to drive voter turnout throughout the county in November as about 78 percent of the electorate turned out to vote, McLean said.

“People are tired of what’s been going on in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Everything from social issues and taxes to health care – all these things resonated in rural America.”

Currently, the county GOP has its eyes focused on some 2018 races. McLean expects Commissioner Delbert Wittenauer and County Clerk Dennis Knobloch to retire from their positions, so some new leadership will be needed soon, McLean said.

He also credited Monroe voters for their role in replacing retiring 58th District state Sen. Dave Luechtefeld with another Republican, Paul Schimpf, who defeated Democrat Sheila Simon by a margin of 69 to 29 percent in November.

Like other Republicans, McLean lays the blame for the state’s loss of population and economic progress at the feet of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). “It’s a crime that Democrats have held up getting a state budget,” he said.

Although McLean doesn’t see the county GOP getting involved with school board and other nonpartisan local races, his goal for the GOP committee is to become more engaged in helping Republican candidates succeed by providing more financial support and more campaign events.

“I’m seeing – without me pulling teeth – the GOP committee grow and work together,” McLean said.